


The Tale of the Four Brothers

by StoryQueen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Harry Potter - Freeform, The Tale of the Three Brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 18:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2239479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryQueen/pseuds/StoryQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Supernatural twist on the folk tale from Harry Potter, 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tale of the Four Brothers

There were once four brothers, all princes to the kingdom of Heaven, who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the angelic arts, and so they simply waves their arms and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by an old man in a black suit.

And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of four new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the four brothers upon their grace and said that each had earned a prize for having been cleaver enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, who was a devout son, asked for the attention he so long from his father. He wanted to be noticed, to be loved more than his younger brothers. So Death placed his hand on the oldest's brother's forehead and granted him the attention he seeked.

Then the second brother, who was a childish man, decided that he wanted to out-do his older brother. Infuriated by his brother's gift, the second brother commanded that Death give him his own kingdom to rule over. So Death stomped his foot on the ground, the the land beneath the earth was hollowed out.

Then third brother, who was an arrogant man, stepped forward, and demanded that Death make him the most powerful being alive, and that all of the citizens of Heaven shall see him as their fearless leader. So Death pointed to the sky and the brother felt his grace begin to grow in power inside of him.

And then Death asked the fourth and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was a smartest and most cunning of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would protect him from Death. He asked for a new family, a family of heroes that would save the world from the disasters that would come from his older brother's newfound gifts. And Death, most unwillingly, created two humans and placed them on the Earth with the promise that the brother's new family would arise from this bloodline.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the four brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts. In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.

The first brother travelled back to his castle to be once again with his father. The brother opened his arms to greet his father, who he knew now would give him all of his attention, but to his horror his father turned away, pointing Heaven's army with the declaration that the army was the most important thing in Heaven in these times of war, and so the oldest brother should become the leader of the army.

The brother was saddened by his new role, since he could not spend time with his father, but, like Death had agreed, his father gave the brother all of his attention. The brother worked hard, every single move he made assessed by his father, and he was criticised for his mistakes, beat to the ground, his fathers new obsessive observations of the brother being shouted down at him. And so, it was that night that the oldest brother called upon Death to be taken away from the pain.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his new kingdom to find that no souls lived their, and he had no citizens to rule over. Feeling cheated by Death, he returned to Earth to seek him, but along the way found a lost human wandering through the woods. The second brother smile as he approached the human, knowing that one day Death would visit this human to take for his own. The brother snatched the human, dragging it's soul down into his kingdom. Happy with his plan, knowing that it would upset Death, the second brother continued to drag helpless souls down into his kingdom so that he may rule over them.

But, the land of which he ruled was cursed, and all the souls which entered slowly and surely became twisted and dark, and with so many of these demonic souls knocking down the brother's door, the brother soon felt to the hands of his citizens, the rebellion tearing him to pieces.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

The third brother followed his oldest brother back to the kingdom of Heaven, and with his newfound power ordered that he shall have a thousand slaves to work for him. The kingdom was reluctant, but the brother demonstrate his power by clicking his fingers, and a general who had once been friends with the brother violently exploded into a million pieces. The kingdom bowed down to the third brother, and the brother was happy.

The kingdom lived in fear of it's new leader, and over time the brother began to feel the emptiness of love that echoed throughout the castle hallways. Without his brothers to entertain him, the brother grew bored and decided to see how powerful he was. He ordered that the powerful Seraphim who wandered the Earth should duel him. But, not to the brothers knowledge, the Seraphim had been collecting souls while on Earth, and since he was not a Heaven dweller, he did not come under Death's gift, and so it was that the third brother fell to his demise at the foot of the Seraphim.

And so Death took the third brother for his own.

But through Death searched for the fourth brother for many years, he was unable to find him. The shield that stood between them came in the form of two human brothers and a Seraphim, and when Death did spot the fourth brother, he was unable to reach him as the fourth brother's new family guarded him. Death watched on as the disasters that he had planned seemed to be aborted, and the soul count that Death had set seemed to be low. Death was angered that the fourth brother's new family destroyed everything he existed for, so in a rage of anger Death scooped up the three souls that stood guard over the brother and took them for his own.

But, to Death's surprise, the souls in his hands melted through his fingers, and when he turned around he watched as the fourth brother and his three new brothers rejoiced in their return. Death was not happy, but he knew that in time the four of them would meet him again, and he knew that when that day came, the four new brothers would greet Death as an old friend and go with him gladly, and, equals, they will depart this life.


End file.
